day,” Qing Quan declared determinedly.Qing Shang glanced at her brother and smiled but didn’t say anything more. As they entered the kitchen, they saw Old Medicine already busy with preparations. The...Volumes of Laughter Chapter 18: The Splendor of Prosperity

The Glory王府, though not as splendid and luxurious as the imperial palace, had its own unique ancient charm. Piled rocks and stone carvings, pavilions by water, bridges adorned with paintings, flowers, trees, and plants were all neatly arranged. The scenery looked chaotic but well-organized, clearly maintained by someone.

While leading the way, Manager Yun Meng conversed with Rong Jing, who occasionally nodded in amusement.

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Lǐ Yún silently memorized the layout of the estate, thinking to herself that it would be laughable if she got lost in this place.

From time to time, servants and maidservants passed by. The servants all approached respectfully with a look of reverence, while the young maids looked at Rong Jing as if smitten, their faces flushed like peach blossoms. Upon seeing Lǐ Yún following him, they all wore envious expressions.

"She’s really smitten!" Lǐ Yún muttered to herself.

"A newlywed returning home naturally attracts such attention!" Rong Jing suddenly turned around and smiled at Lǐ Yún.

Lǐ Yún's face twitched. Sure enough, her words had been overheard. She glared daggers at him but was too flustered to retort after having just said something behind his back. Instead, she quickly amended herself, "I wasn’t talking about you."

"Right, and I wasn't either," Rong Jing turned back around.

Lǐ Yún choked on her words.

She heard Rong Jing chuckle softly. His laughter was warm and pleasant to the ear. She held in her breath for quite a while before realizing that, indeed, one cannot judge a book by its cover—just like how Nie Qingran described him as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

However, he is now a highly respected guest of the Cloud Prince王府 and has saved her from imprisonment. As she is new here and not yet well-established, it's best to avoid offending him. She could only suppress her anger, maintaining a stern expression as she walked behind him.

The Cloud Mansion’s manager Yun Meng in front seemed unaware of the confrontation behind him and was still excitedly chatting with Rong Jing about various topics. Rong Jing also cooperated by occasionally chiming in with relevant remarks, which made Yun Meng, who calls himself a chess簍子 (chess basket), even happier.

Li Yun thought that calling this manager of the Cloud Mansion a "talk basket" would be more fitting than "chess basket."

After crossing the large courtyard in front, they arrived at a main residence with four courtyards both in front and back. Finally, Yun Meng stopped talking and said to Rong Jing behind him, “Prince-ling Jing, the Old Prince said you can enter directly when you come here with Little Crescent Moon小姐without needing an announcement. Shall I take you inside now”

"Yes!" replied Rong Jing.

Yun Meng made a gesture to invite them in. Rong Jing glanced back at Li Yun, who snorted through her nose; he smiled indifferently and calmly walked into the courtyard.

"Is Prince-ling Jing and that smelly girl back" As soon as they entered the courtyard, an elderly voice from the main house asked. Though hoarse, the voice was full of vigor.

Li Yun thought to herself that this Old Cloud Prince didn't seem like a man who would be suffering from illness caused by anger.

"Yes, Grandpa Cloud, it's Rong Jing," replied Rong Jing with a smile.

"Hmm, I heard that smelly girl snort through her pig nose, so I knew she had brought you back." The voice of the Old Prince sounded again, without hesitation in belittling Li Yun.

Li Yun's face darkened. He was talking about her She snorted like a pig did she This old man is truly sharp-eared despite his age.

When Rong Jing glanced at Li Yun out of the corner of his eye, he smiled without speaking.

Only to hear Old Cloud Grand Prince say again, "By your soundless and light steps, you surpass even that stinky brat. It seems like your illness is recovering"

"Grandpa Cloud, I'm half recovered," Rong Jing said as he arrived at the doorway.

Jade Bracelet had been waiting by the door; she promptly bowed and opened the curtain when she saw Rong Jing. He walked in with slow steps.

Lǐ Róng took a deep breath before following Rong Jing into the room.

The room was spacious, with a picture of longevity and happiness hanging on the wall opposite them upon entering. The interior furnishings were all ancient antiques. On the Eight Immortals table sat freshly brewed tea emitting a faint fragrance. A redwood bed stood inside. Curtains were lifted to reveal an old man lying in bed, his white beard prominent. His eyes narrowed as he sized up Rong Jing.

Even though Li Yun had mentally prepared herself, her heart was still anxious since she wasn't truly Yun Qianmo at the soul level. Fortunately, that old man didn’t look at her and only stared intently at Rong Jing.

Rong Jing allowed him to gaze at him without showing any displeasure on his face. He walked up to the bed and sat down gracefully on a chair beside it without being overly courteous.

Li Yun clenched and unclenched her fingers, some of her sweat dissipating as she wondered if she should approach and call out grandpa.

"Hmph, half recovered means you're alive. Good." Old Cloud Grand Prince nodded at Rong Jing’s condition, then turned a furious eye to Li Yun standing by the door hesitantly: "You stinky brat! When someone bullies you, bully them back! What are you sulking about in that pair-of-lovers pond Pathetic!"

Li Yun looked at Old Cloud Grand Prince with her lips curled into a pout and an expression of grievance.

"Are you still feeling wronged Did you waste your efforts learning martial arts in vain Why didn't you use the covert guards I gave you When the second daughter of Prince Rong and that little girl from the Xian Princess’s王府欺負你就打回去。我都說了多少遍了，你打了人有我給你頂著。你怎麼就不長記性！”雲老王爺像被點燃了炸藥包一樣，對李芸一陣狂轟濫炸。

李芸心想她知道自己會武功是事實，但她有隱衛嗎？她哪知道……

"Go and reflect on your mistakes! I can’t even look at you," said the Old Cloud王爺氣得鬍子一翹一翹的。

李芸低下頭，慢吞吞地走到八仙桌旁規規矩矩地坐好。

"Every time you’re upset, you act like this. It’s really disappointing. Move further away from me," said the Old Cloud王爺揮手趕人，好像在驅趕蒼蠅。

李芸無語了，難以想象雲淺月每天都要忍受這樣的責罵嗎？她隻能站起來，邁步向外走去。門外麵遠吧？她走出去不就解決問題了嗎？正好也不想在這兒！還是回到這個身體自己的院子裡和房間裡關上門研究清楚情況再伺機而動比較保險。

"Come back here! Did I say you could leave" the Old Cloud王爺見李芸要出門，更生氣了。

李芸心裡翻了個白眼，不情不願地轉回頭，也不管容景是不是在笑話她，隻要過了這一關就好了。她委屈地看著雲老王爺小聲說：“門外最遠，您不讓出去的話，那我去哪？”

容景低笑。

"You…" the Old Cloud王爺聽到容景的笑聲似乎纔想起邊上還坐著一個人，當著彆人的麵這麼不留情地罵自己的孫女好像不太給麵子。乾咳了一聲，有些不自然地說：“那你坐回去吧！”

"Yes!"李芸又坐了回去。這回膽子大了點，端起桌上的茶水不管熱不熱就咕咚咕咚一口氣猛灌下去。今天她不僅冇吃一點東西，連一口水都冇喝。

"Rude!" Old King Yun glared, and seemed afraid that she might burn herself, so he shouted repeatedly: "Be careful! Be careful! Hey, you stinky brat!"

Li Yun put down the teacup and stuck out her tongue at Old King Yun. Then she turned around to continue pouring water from the teapot, gulping it down in one go.

She had figured something out: This body must belong to Yun Qianyue Well then, that would be fine as long as no one found out. As long as she didn’t say anything, who could guess such an unbelievable thing If anyone investigated her being fake, they wouldn’t find any evidence. They’d probably just think she had changed for the better. With this thought in mind, she felt much more at ease; worrying and feeling tense wasn’t her style. She would deal with situations as they came!

Old King Yun snorted coldly and ignored Li Yun.

"Grandpa Yun seems to be in high spirits today, cursing people with such vitality, it looks like you’ve recovered from your illness," Rong Jing looked at Li Yun, who had just now changed her gloomy mood by sticking out her tongue at Old King Yun. He smiled and diverted his gaze to ask Old King Yun.

"I wasn’t sick in the first place. I only pretended to be ill so as to protect this stinky brat," Old King Yun pushed away the quilts.

Li Yun was surprised; he hadn’t been sick He had just been pretending

Rong Jing didn’t seem at all surprised, and continued smiling without any additional look of shock.

"What are you looking at If it weren’t to protect you, would I need to pretend to be ill Even if the Emperor doesn’t care about you, he’d still have to take my old bones into account. You’re my only granddaughter. If something were to happen to you, wouldn’t I have to bang my head against the wall How could I face your deceased mother" Seeing Li Yun’s surprise, Old King Yun glared at her again and his mustache bristled.

"Yes, yes, you’re right, Grandpa. Your pretending to be sick was truly a wise decision," Li Yun immediately nodded like a chicken pecking corn; then she said in confusion: "But I have so many half-sisters and half-brothers. Even if I die, there are still plenty of them!"

"Hmph, those aren’t my grandchildren since I don’t acknowledge them," Old King Yun snorted coldly again.

Lǐ Yún rubbed her nose with her hand, not understanding what was going on and thus had nothing to say. She lowered her head and remained silent.

The Cloud Old Regent seemed to have vented enough and no longer paid attention to Lǐ Yún. He spoke to the outside: "Yún Mèng, bring dinner to my room. Prince Shi and that stinky brat will be dining together with me in my room today."

"Yes! Old Regent!" Cloud Meng, the Grand Steward, had been standing outside all along and responded before leaving.

Róng Jǐng neither argued nor declined; it seemed he was following the Cloud Old Regent’s arrangements.

Lǐ Yún thought this person didn’t know what manners were. But since she’d been saved, a dinner invitation was only proper.

After the Cloud Old Regent had given his orders, he turned to start talking with Róng Jǐng.

In no time, dinner was served. The three of them sat across from each other. Lǐ Yún, who had been hungry all day long, eagerly picked up her chopsticks and started eating; she was then severely smacked by the Cloud Old Regent, causing her to awkwardly laugh before slowing down.

Róng Jǐng, on the other hand, exhibited elegant manners as he chewed his food slowly. His actions exuded the grace of a gentleman, which Lǐ Yún could not imitate and could only admire in her heart. She had always believed that eating was like working—speed mattered.

The Cloud Old Regent seemed to have opened up, gradually speaking more with Róng Jǐng. He went from talking about his grandfather to himself, then to how he won the annual literary and martial championships over these years, all the way to today's chess match with His Majesty where he had beaten the Emperor… Róng Jǐng answered every question as requested; occasionally, he would turn his head to listen to what the Cloud Old Regent was saying. He maintained a calm and composed expression, neither hurried nor slow, which pleased the Cloud Old Regent immensely. The old regent even became animated when he heard how His Majesty had scratched his ears in frustration at one point during their match.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became lively as the two seemed to be getting along well. Meanwhile, Lǐ Yún was left out cold.

At first, Lǐ Yún listened with keen interest; but after eating and drinking her fill, she gradually felt drowsy. She remembered that before arriving here, she had stayed up all night and day dismantling the timed bomb device. Since then, she had narrowly escaped death several times in a state of fear and anxiety, leaving both her body and mind exhausted. Naturally, she could not hold on any longer; she gradually fell asleep with her head resting on the table. carriage, with a mixture of joy and fear, as well as some hesitation on her small face. Her lips were tightly bitten together; she looked like she wanted to move forward but dared not.Qianyue watched...